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Detox baths are a popular recommendation. Is this a valid practice? Here I share my own experience, what research there is, and other possible reasons they are soothing and helpful regardless of whether they are pulling toxins out of your body.

In the past, I viewed detox baths as a way to have a relaxing moment. I wasn’t particularly concerned whether they were drawing toxins from my body. When I got sick from Lyme disease and mold exposure, I found that one of the few things that seemed to give me a boost, as we started my protocol, was taking magnesium, salt, or clay baths. They were wonderfully relaxing and one of the key practices for helping me through some painful weeks and months. In fact, I’ve had a daily warm bath for the last six months. If I skip it, I don’t feel as well and also get more achy and sore.

I’ve talked to other people with similar results.

After my positive experience, I questioned why exactly I had found them so helpful. Was the warm bath simply soothing? Was it because I also was using my bath time to practice mindfulness meditation (a topic for another post)? Or was there something particular about using the Epsom salts, salt, and clay that helped make them especially healing?

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of studies on baths and detox baths. An important aspect of research to remember is that most of our funding for research goes to developing new drugs. Over the 100 billion dollars spent annually on biomedical research, 60% of that is directly funded by pharmaceutical companies.Only a tiny amount goes to studying more natural, non-drug related options. It is therefore unsurprising that it can be hard to answer specific questions about common alternative recommendations – such as detox baths.

A lack of evidence doesn’t mean anything other than we just haven’t thoroughly studied it yet. That is one reason that I continue basic common sense practices – like eating a clean diet, taking time to relax, and yes, even bathing in soothing mineral baths if they seem to help me feel better. Yet, there are many recommendations made in the alternative world that are made on pretty shaky ground. I questioned whether they were truly “detoxing” me, or if there was another explanation for their helpful effects.

So I wondered what studies were out there, and whether they would be helpful. This is what I found.

Warm water is soothing

We should note from the first that warm water is soothing to achy bodies and sore muscles. I do believe that a big reason why I felt so refreshed after a hot bath was the bath water itself. In fact, there is a name for it – warm water therapy. Warm water without anything added to it can help reduce pain. The biggest hospital in my area now offers tubs for birthing mothers for this very reason. (I’ve tried them. It helps.)

Warm baths make you sweat (which could be detoxing)

People argue about how significant this research is, but I found it fascinating that there is research showing that we do detox through our sweat. Many traditional societies induced sweating on a regular basis, specifically for healthier bodies. Studies have found that sweating does excrete heavy metals and chemicals. While we have other pathways that are likely more important for detoxing (via the kidneys and liver and colon), opening up another detox pathway by sweating certainly doesn’t hurt. Here is some of the research: 1, 2, 3.

I do see changes in my sweating patterns when I’m ill or after I started getting treated for mold exposure, so this was something I especially wanted to research.

(Please note, before taking hot baths, or inducing sweating, you should make sure you don’t have any health conditions that could make this unsafe for you. Anyone who sweats a lot should also be replacing electrolytes and liquids.)

Clay – For beauty or health, or both?

Clay is often used in beauty baths, and have also become popular in detox baths. It may soften our skin, but does it provide any “detoxing support?” I think that one reason that clay is considered detoxing is because it’s a traditional remedy for dealing with bacterial and toxin exposure (you can read about that here). However, it’s far different to be consuming clay than pouring some into the bath. This study doesn’t answer our question directly but did study one healing aspect of external clay. They used French green clay packs to treat a Buruli ulcer (an infectious disease with is hard to treat with antibiotics) with very positive results.

I haven’t come across any studies so far about it pulling toxins through your skin, as is so often claimed. But I did find the Buruli ulcer study of interest, as it shows how it can treat bacterial infections of the skin. Buruli ulcers are in the same family as leprosy and very serious. That clay packs could help them heal it is pretty amazing! Read the whole study for why they think it worked.

Salt water Baths

Another traditional remedy is salt water bathing. Victorians used to “take the waters” for a variety of health complaints, and I’ve heard of it being helpful for certain skin conditions. One study carried out at the University of Manchester studied external applications of salt solutions. They found that it brought inflammation down. High inflammation levels bring up your risk for many diseases, and also increases body pain.

“The team also looked at the benefits of hypertonic solutions when used outside of the body. They soaked bandages in the solution before using them on the legs of mice. They also tested bathing the inflamed area in a hypertonic solution and in both cases the inflammation was reduced.
It appears the hypertonic solution produces an osmotic gradient through the skin, which explains why hot springs, which have a hypertonic make up, can ease the pain of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Vincent Compan worked with Dr Pelegrin on this research in the Faculty of Life Sciences. He says: “This research opens up exciting opportunities for the use of hypertonic solution as a treatment for inflammatory illnesses such as arthritis. What we’ve identified has the potential to be used to help so many patients.”

I found this pretty exciting! I don’t have arthritis, but I do have inflammation issues and Lyme related aches. This could help explain why salt baths were helpful for me. I did find that my symptoms likely caused by inflammation are reduced by salt or magnesium baths.

Magnesium

Similarly, Epsom salt is a form of magnesium used in baths and has long been used to soothe sore muscles. It certainly seems to help mine. I find baths with Epsom salts in them particularly soothing when I am sore. One question is whether we absorb magnesium well through the skin. There are small studies, such as this one, that suggest that we do, at least somewhat. However, if you read this study that looks at most of the available research so far, it’s not clear that we do absorb significant amounts of magnesium through our skin.

While I find it helpful for pain relief and sore muscles, I wouldn’t use it instead of a magnesium supplement. If you have low blood pressure, take note that magnesium can lower it even more.

Conclusion:

My honest take on detox baths? I find them soothing, helpful for reducing pain, and they give me a big boost because of that. There is some promising research, but nothing that can prove that they detox you – at least in the way often claimed. I find it an excellent addition, but not a primary treatment in itself. But as a helpful piece of the puzzle? Absolutely.

Finally, it’s important to note that any activity that helps you rest, relax, and reduces stress is a vital part of a holistic plan for a healthy life. Stress reduction is key for a healthy life and not to be scoffed at. Warm baths can certainly be healthy and helpful simply on that fact alone.

These healing smoothies are stuffed full of greens, and antioxidant-rich berries and lemons. They are especially for those bringing healing foods into their diet. I love them! Full fat coconut milk makes it creamy and delicious, but it also helps aid in the absorption of nutrition (Read: Fat and the absorption of vitamins). I personally love the flavor of lemon in the Lemon Apple smoothie, and it helps balance any bitterness from the greens. Plus, read about all of the health benefits of lemons here. Healing smoothies like these have been an important part of my diet since I got sick months ago, and I definitely felt the lack when I tried cutting them out.

I find that green smoothie drinking is somewhat frowned upon in the real food, slow food, Nourishing Traditions crowd. It’s true that smoothies weren’t available to our ancestors, but I have no problem using a blender if it will help me heal and energize me!

Here are five reasons that you might want to consider including them into your routine. Just remember that we are all unique, and you should add in what works best for you.

Green smoothies up your vegetable intake

I have long known that I feel significantly better when eating a lot of vegetables. The Wahls protocol has also inspired me to get a lot of produce into my daily diet. But I’m not going to lie – It can be hard to consume the amount that makes me feel best. This is especially true when you are healing or deal with chronic health issues. But it’s also true for those of us with busy lifestyles, work schedules, or kids! Consuming lots of greens in your smoothies is an easy way to enjoy the benefits of a high vegetable diet.

Help you consume antioxidant rich berries

Blueberries, wild blueberries, and raspberries are easily accessible and offer a lot of antioxidant support. This is so important for fighting inflammation and it’s best to get antioxidants from food not supplements (read more why here PDF). They also add fiber and nutrition and are wonderful foods to keep in your diet on a regular basis. The lemon apple smoothie offers support through the lemon and apple too.

Green smoothies are FAST

I love the slow food movement, and I have a chicken slowly roasting over a bed of vegetables in my oven right now, but I love foods that are fast too. I recognize that I need fast things at least sometimes, and you probably do too.

Green smoothies are easy to digest

As many have experienced with Lyme disease, or mold exposure, and many other gut disturbances, digestion can be easily upset. Some find that they have to only consume well cooked vegetables. In my case, I also find smoothies are especially easy on my stomach. It’s been a huge blessing for me during months when everything I ate felt heavy in my stomach – with the exception of smoothies.

Green smoothies can be enjoyed on the go

And by the go, I don’t just mean taking them in the car. I like that I can be sipping on my smoothie slowly while helping a child with homework, or doing housework. I think we overall do need to slow down and eat slowly. But for someone like me, I’m thankful I can sip my way through my smoothie in my own time.

Tips for these recipes:

When you need a lot of extra nutrition, you can make a double portion, put most of it in a eight cup mason jar in the fridge, and enjoy it slowly throughout the day. Most days I fill my Vitamix container to the top with greens.

This is a STRONG green drink at the full amount of greens. Play around with what you personally tolerate.

Make it sweeter by using some apple juice, cut down on the greens if they are too strong for you, or try more mild greens like baby lettuce.

I do use a high powered blender (I recently switched to the Vitamix and love it!). You can also use a regular heavy duty blender, but you will likely have to adjust the recipe a bit (more liquid, less to blend, etc).

You can precook certain greens, as desired, and then freeze them in an ice cube tray instead of using raw. (You can read more about this issue here). I personally have decided not to worry about it too much and just rotate my greens.

For best taste, or if you are using nonorganic lemons, you can peel the lemon before slicing. Also, do this if you aren’t using a high powered blender.

1 cup of liquid + more as needed (I usually mix coconut cream or full fat coconut milk with water for this, or have used coconut water and/or kombucha, which also adds sweetness. Apple juice or part apple juice would make this a lot sweeter, but use in moderation. You can also add a half or whole banana, which does change the taste.)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, optional

2 handfuls of ice

Add all of the ingredients to a high powered blender, and blend until frothy and smoothie. Scrape down the sides and add more liquid as needed. Make sure that the texture is smooth!

Enjoy

Raspberry-Banana Green Monster Smoothie

1 cup of liquid + more as needed (I usually mix coconut cream or full fat coconut milk with water for this, or have used coconut water, which also adds sweetness. Apple juice or part apple juice would make this a lot sweeter, but use in moderation.)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, optional

Small handful of ice

Add all of the ingredients to a high powered blender, and blend until frothy and smoothie. Scrape down the sides and add more liquid as needed. Make sure that the texture is smooth!

Years ago I started the practice of drinking lemon water in the morning before I ate. The habit didn’t stick for my morning routine, but I’ve been enjoying drinking lemon water in recent years throughout the day.

I’ve long found the habit helpful when I was starting to catch a virus, but more recently I’ve had several Lyme patients mention to me that they feel better when drinking plenty of lemon water – especially when they are experiencing the dreaded “die-off” effect.

One simple reason we may experience this is because lemon water adds a small amount of minerals and vitamins to water, and helps replace electrolytes. I’ve found that I feel hydrated faster with lemon water in comparison to plain water. Sometimes I add a pinch of sea salt too.

But there may be more benefits than just simple hydration. Lemon juice is a source of vitamin C and flavonoids which could both offer benefits. I’ve personally found supplementing with vitamin C helpful, but lemons are an excellent source of vitamin C in their whole food form.

One of the (many) reasons the Mediterranean diet is thought to be so healthful is because of their abundant citrus in the diet. This quote from the research, “Citrus as a Component of the Mediterranean Diet” gives a good idea of the nutritional power of citrus as a whole.

“Citrus fruits have well-documented nutritional and health benefits. Since ancient times that citrus has been used not only as food but also in folk medicine to treat some complaints: bronchitis, tuberculosis, cough, cold, menstrual disorder, hypertension, anxiety, depression and stress (Favela-Hernández et al., 2016). They can actually help preventing and curing some diseases and, above all, they are essential in a balanced and tasty diet. Citrus fruits do not possess sodium, fat and cholesterol, but are sources of several minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper), vitamins (C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9), dietary fiber and secondary phytochemicals (carotenoids, phenols, including flavonoids, coumarins, limonoids, alkaloids and essential oils) which alone or in combination have been referred as being able to prevent inflammation, degenerative diseases, heart disease and even cancer (Ejaz et al., 2006; Lv et al., 2015).Potassium not only helps to maintain the body’s water, acid balance and normal pressure, but also is important in transmitting nerve impulses to muscles as well as in the muscle contraction (Economos & Clay, 1999). Vitamin C plays a key role in the absorption of inorganic iron; which can aid in the treatment of anaemia provided that adequate medicines are also administered. This vitamin is also important in the formation of collagen. A deficiency of this vitamin is responsible for the weakness of those tissues in which collagen is an essential element (ligaments, tendons, dentin, skin, blood vessels and bones). ” Read more: Citrus as a Component of the Mediterranean Diet (PDF Download Available). Available from: [accessed Jan 25 2018].

Crystal over at MoneySavingMom.com has talked about how she drinks an entire gallon of lemon water every day and that it made a huge difference in her health and energy. She’s not alone in experiencing positive effects – though not everyone chooses to drink quite that much lemon water.

I do know that I feel better drinking it, so I have continued the habit. I don’t argue with success!

Tips for Lemon Juice Consumption:

Morning Cup of Lemon Juice Tea: In a cup of warm/hot water, squeeze half of a lemon and stir in honey to taste. (Some add cayenne pepper as well). Drink in the morning before breakfast.

Pre-make Lemon Water for the Day: Whether you are aiming for eight cups or a gallon of water, you can premake your lemon juice for the day. I use about 4-5 tablespoons of lemon juice per eight cups (it doesn’t need to be exact).

Drinking it Freshly Squeezed: I often like to squeeze a half of a lemon in a glass of water as I’m thirsty throughout the day. To make this practical see my notes below about my lemon squeezer.

Hot Lemon Mint Tea: I also make this Lemon Mint Tea, that uses a whole lemon, peel and all.

In Smoothies and Juices: I also enjoy adding a small wedge of lemon (seeded, but peel left on) to my smoothies and juicing it with veggies. (When using lemon peel make sure you are using organic lemons and wash them well.)

Hand Juicer I Love: I got tired quickly of hand squeezing lemons or using inadequate lemon juicers. My husband got me this lemon juicer (pictured above), and it is amazing! It gets all of the lemon juice out easily, and also doesn’t put stress on my hands. (Make sure you use it correctly. The lemon half goes in “backward” so that it is turned inside out as it is squeezed.)

Vanilla Lemonade: If you aren’t used to the sourness of lemon water, you can use vanilla stevia to sweeten it. Vanilla lemonade is good!

Bottled Lemon Juice: If you would like to use bottled lemon juice instead of fresh, choose glass if you can. This organic lemon juice is a great choice. Not only will you avoid plastic chemicals, but it will also have more stable vitamin C in it according to this research, “Regarding packing material, vitamin C in fruit juice is quite stable when stored in metal or glass containers, whereas juice stored in plastic bottles has a much shorter shelf-life. “

Don’t brush your teeth directly after drinking any citrus juice (wait at least 15 minutes). I also like to swish ph neutral water in my mouth afterwards to protect my teeth.

Ever since I got sick from a moldy basement two years ago, I’ve become far more sensitive to the everyday toxins in our environment. Unfortunately, houses aren’t built in a green and clean manner, and indoor air pollution can be even worse than outdoors. Whether you have chronic health conditions, little kids in your house, or just want to stay healthy, getting good air quality should be a priority for all of us. Air purifiers are one way to get better air (and air that smells better too!).

I own an excellent air purifier, but recently I needed some extra support to cover more square feet. It was then that I learned from others about these amazing and easy air purifier box fans you can make yourself!

I was concerned that it might not be a legitimate way to reduce air pollution in the house, but this video convinced me that it could help reduce your air pollution load!

The most important thing is to make sure that you buy the right filter. If you want to filter out the most things, you should be looking for a MERV 11( filtration rating) or higher. I decided to go with the “hospital grade” MERV 13 Furnace Filter. This filter will filter pollen, dust mites, mold spores, bacteria, proplet nuclei (droplets from sneezing), and smoke.

This project is so simple and inexpensive!

What you need:

Directions:

There will be a little arrow on the filter showing which way the air should flow. Point that in the right direction, and then tape onto the front of the box fan filter. (Note: Some have wondered whether we should tape it onto the back of the box fan filter. However the concern is that it will cause the fan to wear out more quickly because it has to pull the air through the filter.)

Plug in, and you are done! I run this on high. You can change the filters as often as they need it, once they look dirty (every 3 -6 months).

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The information you find here at The Nourishing Gourmet is meant to help you become a better cook! This site is primarily for sharing family friendly recipes. It's not meant to give medical advice or to make any health claims on the prevention or curing of diseases.This site is only for informational and educational purposes. Please discuss with your own, qualified health care provider before adding in supplements or making any changes in your diet. Also, any links to sponsors or affiliates (including Amazon) may give me a percentage of the sale or a pay per click. Thank you for supporting this site.